


What Happened, and What's Going On

by Duck_Life



Category: Z-O-M-B-I-E-S (2018)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Big Brothers, Gen, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Prison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 11:24:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13974093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duck_Life/pseuds/Duck_Life
Summary: When her Z-band is smashed by an angry stranger, Zoey loses control and does something horrible. Bonzo and his friends try to make everything okay again.





	What Happened, and What's Going On

Addison sticks the cloth under running water for a moment and then flips off the faucet, turning back to the girl sitting on the counter. “Can I see your hand, sweetie?” she says, her voice full of forced pleasantness. She wants to cry. She wants to be angry. 

Zoey dutifully holds out her hand, still looking dazed. At least the black veins have faded from her arms and neck, now that Bonzo’s Z-band is fixed firmly to her wrist. Addison begins to scrub away the blood from Zoey’s fingers and the skin from beneath her nails. 

“Am I in trouble?” Zoey says quietly, watching Addison work. It’s the first thing Addison’s heard her say since Bonzo carried her, crying, out of the women’s bathroom at the mall. 

“No, sweetie, you’re not in trouble,” Addison promises, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from crying. She thinks of horror movies she’s seen, creepy little girls wandering hotel hallways or possessed by demons or foretelling ghosts to come out of television sets. She can’t see Zoey like that, though, even though she currently has someone else’s blood smeared on her chin. “Your brother and Bonzo and Eliza, they’re going to get it all sorted out, I promise,” she says, brushing her fingers through Zoey’s hair. 

The girl’s shaking like a leaf. Addison pulls her closer and plants a kiss on her forehead, wishing she could wipe away what happened at the mall as easily as she wipes away the blood. “It’s gonna be okay,” she whispers, wishing she could believe that.

* * *

 

Downtown, Eliza and Bonzo sit across from a man in a zombie patrol uniform. Addison would know him, Eliza thinks. She’d recognize him. To Eliza he’s just another human bent on making life hard for her. “Tell me again what happened,” the man says.

Bonzo launches into an explanation, his handcuffs rattling when he tries to gesture. At least the patrol officers put a working Z-band on him when they put the handcuffs on. The man behind the desk holds up a hand to pause him. 

“Stop, stop… ma’am, could you translate?” He’s looking at Eliza. She purses her lips.

“Of course.” Bonzo starts over again, speaking more slowly like Eliza can’t understand him at his normal pace. “He says he went into the bathroom looking for Zoey… our friend’s little sister… and when the human woman in there saw him, she got angry. She shoved him and he fell and hit his Z-band on the faucet…” Eliza stops, staring at Bonzo. Under her breath, in Zombie, she says,  _ “Bonz, that’s not what happened. _ ”

Bonzo gives her a long, meaningful look, and then he repeats everything he just said. He keeps going. “His band shut off. He lost control and… and attacked the woman.” Eliza shakes her head, her mouth dropping open as she stares at Bonzo. 

“Is there a problem, ma’am?” the man behind the desk asks. 

“No, no, officer,” Eliza says, trying to reign in her emotions. “He says… he says he couldn’t control himself. And he k-killed her. Bonzo—”

“Eliza.” He doesn’t often say her name in English, using the Zombie version when he speaks to her. Somehow, this packs more of a punch. 

“Okay, I think I’ve heard enough,” the man behind the desk says. “We’re going to put your friend in containment tonight while we arrange his sentencing—”

“You mean his trial?” Eliza says, bristling. “You can’t sentence him until he’s been tried and convicted.”

“He just confessed.”

“In a language you don’t understand, with a translator who is incredibly close to the situation,” Eliza rattles off, trying to recall anything she ever saw on lawyer shows. “You can’t just appoint yourself judge, jury and executioner.”

“No one said anything about execution,” the man says. 

“Oh, please!” Eliza says. “He’s a zombie. This is the kind of excuse that you monsters have been waiting for to go back to the way things were. Or just to take us all out. Don’t lie to me.”

“Ma’am, please calm down.”

“Calm down? We’re here because  _ your _ technology couldn’t withstand the blunt force of a human pushing a zombie into a sink. Her blood is on your hands, okay? Not—”

“Eliza!” Bonzo again, sounding mature and sad and resigned. “Zagruver.”  _ It’s over.  _

When they take him away, all Eliza can do is watch.

* * *

 

Addison sends Zoey to take a bath and sits outside the bathroom with her back to the door, her mind racing in about a thousand different directions. A little bit after she hears the faucet turn off, Zed reappears from his bedroom and comes to sit beside her. 

“Hey,” he says, his voice hoarse. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t help, I just… I can’t… I can’t see her like…” He trails off, shaking, holding his hands up over his mouth in quiet horror. Addison takes one hand and holds it between her own two. His skin’s always colder than hers, but now it’s like ice. She runs her hands over his hand, trying to warm him up. 

“It’s okay,” she says, hugging his arm and leaning into his shoulder, trying to give him the comfort and closeness she needs as well. “Um, Eliza texted me. She said Bonzo took the wrap for… for the whole thing.”

Zed’s expression sinks and he buries his face in his hands. “No, no, no, no, no. I should’ve done that, that should’ve been me.”

“Zoey’s going to need you,” Addison says, trying to peel his hands away from his face. Trying not to think about how this is so, so much bigger than lunchroom bullying and a “No Zombies Allowed” sign on a froyo shop. This is so much bigger than a cheer championship or a homecoming game. And it’s so much bigger than them. 

Zed sighs. “Does she… how much does she understand? About what she did?”

Addison side-eyes him. “She’s seven, Zed, she’s not stupid. I think she knows what happened, and she’s scared. She’s upset. She asked me if she was in trouble.” Zed looks at her. “I told her she wasn’t. Because she’s not. Zed, she was attacked. Her band got smashed. Her instincts took over.  _ It wasn’t her fault _ .”

“No other human is going to see it like that,” he says. “And nothing like this would ever happen to a normal little girl.”

“Zoey is a normal little girl,” Addison says. “And she needs her big brother to  _ act like it _ and not be freaking out, okay? You need to get it together.”

“Get it together? My little sister just murdered a woman,” he says, sounding like there’s not enough air in the room. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. This isn’t your family and these aren’t your people, and you have no idea—”

“You want me to go?” she says, matching his tone. “You want me to leave, right now? I’m on your team, Zed. We’re a team. Don’t get mad at your teammate.” 

He sighs, tipping his head back against the door. “You’re right. You’re right.” Zoey pulls the door open then, inward, and they almost topple backward. 

“I’m clean,” she announces, wrapped in a thin towel, her hair forest green with its dampness hanging in a curtain around her face. 

“Let’s get you dressed,  _ Zoozoo _ ,” Zed says, scooping her up. She giggles at his use of her given, Zombie name. The sound of laughter is calming, refreshing, like stepping inside after a thunderstorm. Addison watches him carry his sister away, down the hall, into her room.

* * *

 

Almost a week later, Eliza sits across from Bonzo in the containment facility, a thick sheet of glass between them. His voice sounds distorted through the telephone. “Zigovny zars gurst zavenab,” he says. “Gonzaga zagony.” 

“Well, I’m glad the food is good,” she says drily. Bonzo’s been so upbeat about this whole process, and it kind of makes it harder for her. It feels like she needs to be angrier to make up for how passive he is. “You heard about your sentence, right? Four years. Involuntary manslaughter.” She shakes her head, lets out a bitter laugh. “Bonz, I thought they were gonna kill you.”

“Zsra gurst Zoozoo?”  _ How is Zoey? _

“Oh,” Eliza says. “Well, she’s here, actually.” She turns, and Zed and Addison walk in with Zoey, looking small— and kind of older, in her school recital dress. Somebody told her you were supposed to dress nice to visit people in prison, and she listened. 

“Hi, Bonzo,” Addison says, waving. He waves back to her through the glass. And then he pulls something out of his front pocket to show off; it’s a harmonica. “Oh, they let him have that in there?”

“Yeah,” Eliza says. “I think that’s how they punish the other prisoners.” They’re laughing and joking, and part of it feels wrong but part of it also feels like a relief. After so many days of not knowing what was going on and worrying, it feels good to joke. 

Bonzo starts playing the harmonica then, though, and it’s clear that his harmonica playing is no punishment. If anything, it probably makes everyone else in the containment center feel a little better. 

It definitely makes Zoey brighten up. She climbs up toward the glass (with Eliza’s help) and practically presses her nose up against it so she can talk to him. “When do you get to come home?” 

Bonzo stops playing the harmonica and lowers it, watching her with his big basset-hound eyes. He holds up four fingers. 

“Four days?”

“Four years, Zoey,” Eliza whispers, her hands on Zoey’s shoulders. 

Zoey frowns. “But you didn’t even do anythi—”

“Shh, shh,” Eliza says, wrapping her arms around Zoey and leaning closer, smoothing down her hair. She kisses the little girl on the cheek. “We don’t talk about that, okay, green bean? We don’t talk about that.” 

Her eyes flash to Zed, and he shakes his head. He’s been trying to explain the situation to Zoey, but it’s hard. She barely remembers what she did, but she knows enough to know that Bonzo didn’t do it. That it was all her. Zed and Zoey’s father doesn’t even know that. 

“Addison, who don’t you take Zoey and get a snack from the vending machine?” Eliza says, transferring Zed’s sister over to Addison. 

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Addison says, forcing a smile for Zoey. “We’ll get some, some yummy Chex mix or Cheetos or something, okay? Maybe gummi bears.” She totes Zoey away, leaving Eliza and Zed with Bonzo— and the sheet of glass separating them. 

“I’m so sorry, Bonzo,” Zed says lowly, standing too close to the glass. He takes the phone from Eliza and holds it loosely in his hand. “I’m so sorry. It should be me.” He’s Zoey’s brother. He’s responsible. 

Bonzo shakes his head and points to himself. “Zagg.”  _ Me _ . 

“We’ll come and see you all the time,” Zed promises. Beside him, Eliza nods furiously. “We… we won’t forget. And we’ll help you keep up with school, we’ll bring you your assignments and everything.” He’s talking like Bonzo has the flu, not like he’s in zombie jail.

“You’re so good,” Eliza says, starting to get weepy. “You’re a good person. Don’t let them lie to you. And don’t let them… drill it out of you or something.” 

Bonzo presses a hand to the glass, and Zed and Eliza put their hands there as well. They stand joined like that for a moment before Addison returns with Zoey. 

“The guard says we have to leave soon,” she says. 

“Okay.” Eliza wipes her eyes, turns away from the glass and the phone. “Okay. Zoey, you wanna say goodbye to Bonzo?” She holds Zoey up so she can look him in the eye and wave goodbye. 

“Gar-garzagava,” Bonzo says to her. 

Addison squeezes Zed’s hand and leans toward him to whisper, “What did he say?”

“He said ‘I love you,’” Zed says, voice catching. “But, um, he used the conjugation for when you say it to a little sister or niece.” 

“Oh.”

Zoey and Eliza finish saying goodbye to Bonzo, and then Addison and Zed say goodbye, and then they walk out, leaving Bonzo alone with his harmonica. 

**THREE YEARS LATER**

There’s a new banner strung up over the Zombietown sign— “Welcome Home Bonzo.” Zombies (and Addison and Bree) crowd around the entrance, waiting for the truck to show up with Bonzo in it. 

“He’s late,” Zoey whines. She’s almost half a foot taller now, her pigtails replaced with a big ponytail that spouts out the top of her head. Addison pats her on the shoulder.

“He’ll be here soon, don’t worry,” she assures the girl. In actuality, Bonzo’s early— a whole year early, thanks to good behavior. “Are you ready to show him your one-handed cartwheel?”

“Yes!” A counselor at cheer camp now, Addison’s been teaching Zoey and the other kids everything she knows all summer long. 

Zed and Eliza come to join them, escorting Bonzo’s Aunt Azalia. “C’mere,” Zed says, scooping up Zoey and putting her on his back. She’s getting a little too big for it, but he manages. “You excited to see Bonzo back home?”

“Uh-huh.”

In the three years since the incident, Zoey has barely spoken to anybody about what happened— and when she does, it’s always to Addison, never to Zed or Eliza. Zed finds out from Addison what she talks about— the woman in the bathroom being furious that a zombie girl was there, Zoey trying to leave, the woman shoving her and smashing her Z-band into the sink.  

Zoey never talks about what happened after, but sometimes at night she comes into Zed’s room and crawls into his bed and just cries. He always knows what it’s about, so he doesn’t ask. The most she’s ever spoken openly to him about the incident was the night she said, quietly, “Am I a monster?”

“Never,” he told her. “You never have been and never will be, alright? You’re my little sister.” 

Now, Zoey sways atop his shoulders, trying to get the first glimpse of the zombie patrol truck. It finally comes rumbling down the road and pulls through the gate, and a man gets out to open the back. 

Zed remembers coming home after a night in zombie containment, the relief, the longing for home. Bonzo’s been there three years.

Bonzo hops out of the back, and no amount of zombie patrol officers could hold back the horde that surges toward him to hug him and welcome him back home. Zoey ends up slung around his shoulders and Addie and Zed are hugging him and Eliza winds up smashed against his side, refusing to let him go. 

There’s a heavy ankle bracelet around his leg that’ll keep him from leaving Zombietown for a couple months, and he looks heartbreakingly older than he did three years ago. But he’s home. 

He’s home, and he’s not going anywhere.


End file.
